Abi Begho (nee Ajose-Adeogun) is the Director of Program Management here at Lake Health and Wellbeing. She manages all our projects and the day-to-day running of this small NGO.
She holds a BSc. in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, a MSc. in Clinical Biochemistry with Molecular Biology from the University of Surrey and a Masters in Public Health from King’s College. She started her career in the pharmaceutical industry working firstly for the biotech company, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and after four years at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Abi accepted a position at the multinational Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis where she worked as a Scientific Associate at the Novartis Horsham Research Centre in West Sussex.
After five years of working in the pharmaceutical industry Abi decided to explore a different side of research by becoming a Scientific Programme Manager at the National Cancer Research Institute based at Cancer Research UK and then after the project came to an end, Abi worked for Ovarian Cancer Action as a Healthcare Project Manager, has acted as a consultant for charities such as Paul’s Cancer Support Centre and returned to Cancer Research UK to work on their Health Professional Engagement Facilitator programme.
Abi founded The Lake Foundation in 2013 to address the health inequalities that exist in the UK. She relocated to the beautiful twin island state of St Kitts and Nevis (where her mother is from) at the end of 2017 and reformed The Lake Foundation as Lake Health and Wellbeing in St Kitts in February 2018.
“My mother’s maiden name is Lake and I set up Lake Health and Wellbeing in loving memory of all the Lakes we’ve lost too soon due to health challenges, in particular John Lake, Walter Lake, Marina Lake, Joan Lake and Patricia Lake-Oquaye.” – Abi Begho
Abi is very passionate about giving back to her community and over the years has volunteered with numerous health charities, helped with the development of a mentoring programme and delivered several health awareness presentations to churches and community groups as well as career talks at the science museum in London. She has been recognised for this work having received an award from the MGC GCC for her contribution to health and wellbeing and was nominated for an Active Citizen Award.
Her Publications
Harrington, E.A., Bebbington D., Moore J., Rasmussen R.K., Ajose-Adeogun A.O., Tomoko Nakayama T., Graham J.A., Demur C., Hercend T., Diu-Hercend A., Su M., Golec J.M.C., & Miller K.M. VX-680, A potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of the Aurora kinases suppresses tumour growth in vivo. Nature Medicine: 10, 262-267 (2004).
Coley, H.M., Shotten, C.F., Ajose-Adeogun, A., Modjtahedhi, H., & Thomas, H. Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibition is effective in chemosensitising EGFR-expressing drug resistant human ovarian cancer cell lines when used in combination with cytotoxic agents. Biochem Pharmacol: 72(8), 941-948 (2006)
Reddington, F., Ajose-Adeogun., A and Clark, R. The UK National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Informatics Initiative: promoting partnership in cancer research. Human Mutat: 28 (12), 1151-11515 (2007)
Race Bias Costing Lives, View Point by Abi Ajose-Adeogun and Marina Raime, BBC Scrubbing Up Nov 2010
Authored articles for Nursing Standard News, The Voice and Keep The Faith on black women and breast cancer in 2010 and 2011
African Caribbean Cancer Awareness and Outreach Community Based Assessment (2012). A report for Paul’s Cancer Support Centre.
Lake Health and Wellbeing (formerly known as The Lake Foundation), (2014). Understanding the Needs of Women With Fibroids.
Lake Health and Wellbeing (formerly known as The Lake Foundation), (2015). Summary Report – The Lake Foundation’s Cancer Support Group.
Lake Health and Wellbeing (Formerly known as The Lake Foundation), (2015). Engagement and Empowerment Pilot: Exploring Whether Black Churches Are An Effective Environment For Raising Awareness.
Get to Know Abi
In the video below from 2015 Abi tells us a bit about herself, her work and what inspired her to start The Lake Foundation (now Lake Health and Wellbeing)
Abi was interviewed by Jo-Ann Hamilton, the Founder of Secret Birds for the Secret Birds Podcast in Feb 2018. Abi discussed the importance of embracing change in business, this discussion was based on Abi’s experience of transitioning The Lake Foundation to Lake Health and Wellbeing.